Australian Gourmet Traveller - (01)January 2021 (1)

Club sandwich

T

heClubsandwich

is oneofAmerica’s

greatestculinary

treasuresand

a comfortingstalwartofhotel

menustheworldover.

Therearetwoapparent

birthplacesofthissavouryicon

(bothinNewYorkstate).The

firstbeingTheUnionClub

• a privatesocialclubon
  Manhattan’sUpperEastSide.
  Theother,anexclusivegambling
  jointbasedinSaratogaSprings.
  Whilebothvenuesclaim
  tohavefashionedthesandwich
  inthelate1800s,thereis little
  evidence.Whatwedoknow,
  however,is thatthemighty
  Clubremainsaspopular today
  as it was back then.

Thisiconic,expertlystacked

offeringcanbeenjoyedany

time of the day or night.

THEMEAT

It’sneverbeenestablishedwhether

chickenorturkeywastheoriginalfilling,

buttodaybotharepopular.Somerecipes

callformultiplelayersofshavedmeat,

whileotherspreferonethickslice.

A properClubsandwichalsorequires

crisprashersofbacon,addingan

essentialdashofsalttothedish.

THEVEGETABLES

A Clubsandwichis

incompletewithout

thefamiliarcrunch

oflettuceanda slice

ofjuicytomato.

Traditionalistswillopt

foriceberg,while

morecontemporary

recipesuseleaves

suchasrocket.

THEBREAD

Classicwhitesandwichbread

is thewaytogohere.Each

sliceshouldbelightlytoasted,

maintaininga softchew.There

aretypicallythreeslices,with

a middlelayercommonlyused

toseparatethemeatfillingfrom

thesalad.Eachsliceshouldbe

dressedwitha generous

lashingofmayonnaise.

TheLanghaminSydneyis renownedforits

house-curedchickenclub,whichcomeswith

a fragrantlayerofcurriedegg.TheJackalope

HotelontheMorningtonPeninsulaoffers

a uniquespinontheclassic,featuringdrunken

chicken, chicken skin and bacon jam.

Find

one

52 GOURMET TRAVELLER

WORDS GEORGIE MEREDITH. PHOTOGRAPHY WILL HORNER.

Anatomy of a dish